Night Shift does have burnt-in subtitles. We don't add any subtitles to the video after we receive it from the suppliers.

HOWEVER, the new Explora does support subtitles on VOD content so the plan is to make these available as soon as we can.

But it might be a bit of time before you actually see ubiquitous subtitling across all VOD content.

MC Nic.

This is great news and although it may take time it will be worth waiting for.
One thing I would ask is could a list of CU titles with subtitles available be published somewhere Or even better could Subtitles be marked somewhere in the CU synopsis with the HD and Dolby signs perhaps ?

This is great news and although it may take time it will be worth waiting for.
One thing I would ask is could a list of CU titles with subtitles available be published somewhere Or even better could Subtitles be marked somewhere in the CU synopsis with the HD and Dolby signs perhaps ?

Regards Ian

okay,

I would imagine that any shows that are packaged with subtitles in the future when we do roll it out will be indicated with an HI in the iPlate or similar.

So what progress is there regarding this subject, after almost 2 years?

Can you please please increase the priority of this feature.

I am paying a hefty monthly subscription, and as a deaf subscriber, I am getting absolutely NO value for my money.

CatchUp and BoxOffice are great for added value, but only apply to hearing subscribers.

I have loyally paid my subscriptions in the hope that this would evolve and support deaf and hard of hearing subscribers, but it seems that we will be forced to explore other options such as NetFlix if DSTV / MC keeps ignoring the requests of the hearing impaired population.

Please respond with some valid explanations as to why no progress was made in this regard.

Hi there @Hermo - you posted the same query on a number of different threads - I'll only respond on this one. I am engaging the Catch Up team to check on progress to be able to give you an informed response.

I can assure you we take the needs of our hearing impaired customers very seriously. That is why we do offer HI subtitles wherever possible (this is done manually by actual people here in our building transcribing it), which you can record an watch when it suits you. The process to add a show on Catch Up is different from adding it to play out on air (different formats and ways of encoding the show), and that includes adding different soundtracks including HI subtitles.

Once I have spoken to the team, I will be able to give you a better indication on what is happening on Catch Up.

Hi there @Hermo - you posted the same query on a number of different threads - I'll only respond on this one. I am engaging the Catch Up team to check on progress to be able to give you an informed response.

I can assure you we take the needs of our hearing impaired customers very seriously. That is why we do offer HI subtitles wherever possible (this is done manually by actual people here in our building transcribing it), which you can record an watch when it suits you. The process to add a show on Catch Up is different from adding it to play out on air (different formats and ways of encoding the show), and that includes adding different soundtracks including HI subtitles.

Once I have spoken to the team, I will be able to give you a better indication on what is happening on Catch Up.

Thanks. It is just very hard to understand and accept the explanation given that there were several cases in the past where a few shows in CatchUp did have subtitles. This is proof that somehow it must be possible.

But I am looking forward to feedback once you have communicated with the team.

Unfortunately creating Hearing Impaired subtitles is a manual process (we don't buy shows with those already on), which means that does delay how long it takes for the show to get to Catch Up. For example, Express from the US shows that get delivered at the same time as the US broadcast, will not have subtitles initially. But the later broadcast on television should have it on. I was fascinated the first time I toured the offices here and saw the two people who watch the shows and transcribe them for HI subtitles.

Surely there must be software available that can convert voice to subtitles , or will the results be too inconsistent ? I would let the software do all the work first and then just watch for any errors

The team tell me they have quite a few Catch Up titles in August that will have hearing impaired subtitles. And that they are also working on ensuring all the movies on Catch Up have this (this will take a while as they start with new titles only). Express from the US titles won't ever have HI subtitles due to the short turnaround time - for these they recommend you record the live broadcast airing later in the week (not the early morning timeslot).

Something else regarding the Express from the US not having subtitles: I can understand why and I respect that, but what I do have issues with is when I record a season, I have no control over when the next episode is recorded. Often I have found that it records the Express from US version, and then there is no subtitles. I cannot force it to record the later episode that will always have subtitles.

This has often lead to frustration and depending on how far behind I was when I discovered the error, I had to find the missing episodes elsewhere through other medium.

Is there a way users can control the recording of a season and force specific timeslots?

Hi, as it's the weekend MC Marietjie may not be able to answer before Monday so here's some ideas;

Depends on which PVR you've got - if one of the older HD PVRs then I'm not sure (can't recall) how or if a SBR (Series Based Recording) can be rescheduled for a later slot, so then setting a recurring TBR (Time Based Recording) is the answer.
With the Explora, it's "easier" - you press OK on the Schedules List entry, then select "Other Airings" and make a later selection. (Careful though of setting series on channel 101 to the immediately following slot on channel 901 instead, they are not going to have subtitles yet either.)
A bit of a pain, but there's no easier way as "automating" any such need would probably be more complex to do than it's worth.

In my case (for other needs) I find it necessary to "babysit" my scheduled recordings on a daily basis, but the results are great as it does exactly what I require from it